Propane

Propane is a gas.
It comes from oil and natural gas.
52 ©2021 The NEED Project Primary Energy Infobook www.NEED.org
 Propane
TEACHER

Propane is the gas we use to fuel our backyard grills and

heat some homes. It is a lot like natural gas—you cannot see
it, smell it, or taste it, but you can burn it to make heat energy. ENERGY CHANT
Propane is a fossil fuel. It was formed hundreds of millions of
years ago, long before the dinosaurs. Like oil and natural gas, Put a little
it was formed from tiny sea animals and plants. The plants
got their energy from the sun. This is the energy in propane. pressure on me—
Propane’s energy came from the sun. PROPANE!
Propane is buried underground mixed with natural gas and Begin with hands wide
petroleum. It has to be separated out at natural gas cleaning apart and bring palms closer
plants and oil refineries. Even though propane has been
together at each word of the
around for millions of years, it was only discovered a little
chant.
more than 100 years ago! Right away scientists knew they
had found a good energy source.

Many farms in the United States use propane to dry crops,

run tractors, and heat barns. Businesses use propane for
heating and cooking. Most vehicles that we drive inside
buildings, like forklifts and carts, use propane for fuel. It is a
clean fuel. It does not pollute the air.

Some people in the country cannot get natural gas pipelines

to their homes. They use propane instead. They put big
propane tanks outside their houses. Small trucks bring the propane right to their houses.

When propane comes out of the ground, it is a gas. When it is put under pressure, it becomes a liquid. A lot
more liquid can be put into a tank than gas. A tank of propane gas might last a week. The same sized tank of
liquid propane would last five years!

Liquid propane is easy to move from place to place in tanks. It is portable—that means easy to move. We use
small tanks of propane for our barbecue grills. One tank can last all summer.

Some cars and buses use propane for fuel. It is a clean burning fuel. It does not pollute the air as much as
gasoline does. Engines must be changed to use propane though, and that is expensive.

©2021 The NEED Project Primary Energy Infobook www.NEED.org 53

 Propane makes
heat when it is
burned. We can
Propane Grill
use it to cook food.

Propane is a
clean fuel. We
can use it to fuel
machines used
indoors. Forklift

54 ©2021 The NEED Project Primary Energy Infobook www.NEED.org